In many ways this has been Australian cricket’s summer of discontent, and the fans have found plenty to vent their spleens over – selections, rotations, the coach, the standing down of players.
And yet, perhaps the greatest no-confidence vote has been levelled against a man who neither selects the team nor travels with it.
His name is Pat Howard, the former Wallabies flyhalf, one-time coach of Leicester Tigers and general manager of the ARU’s high-performance unit.
Since October 2011 he has been in the position of general manager, team performance for the Australian cricket team, during which time he has needed to regularly don a flak-jacket in order to protect himself from the seemingly constant of barrage of criticism and questioning from the fans.
Yesterday, as has often been the case in recent months, he found himself before the cameras as the official Cricket Australia spokesman in times of a crisis of confidence in the organisation.
He was called off the bench this time to try and put as good as spin as possible on the now infamous ‘homeworkgate’ affair that resulted in the standing down from Test selection of Shane Watson, James Pattinson, Mitchell Johnson and Usman Khawaja.
The quartet failed to comply with a request from coach Mickey Arthur to provide answers as to why Australia finds itself in such a parlous position in the current India series.
Howard’s performance in front of the media was far from stellar.
At one point he stated that the suspensions meted out to the ‘gang of four’ was not wholly and solely as a result of the failure to complete the assignment set by the coach but more as a culmination of events with the homework saga being the straw that broke the camel’s back.
He then appeared to start to explain the other misdemeanours that resulted in some of the strongest action taken in recent times by Australian team management before abruptly then pulling himself up and uttering that he had no desire to air them publicly.
In essence, it was a highly confusing summation of the whole saga, which did little to defuse the situation or pacify the fan-base.
But the biggest talking point out of his media appearance was the verbal hand grenade that he lobbed at Watson.
In response to a question about Watson’s perceived threat to walk away from Test cricket as a result of his acrimonious suspension, Howard declared that, “I know Shane reasonably well. I think he acts in the best interests of the team – sometimes.”
Ah, excuse me?
Is the same Shane Watson that CA anointed as vice-captain?
The man who, but for an injury to Michael Clarke, would skipper the national Test team?
It was a mind-blowing statement from a man who is the administrative link between the team and the administration of Cricket Australia.
One wonders whether Howard would choose the same words if he had his time over.
Unsurprisingly, Watson, upon returning to Australia, had a response to Howard’s comments.
The deputy skipper refuted the claims levelled against him and, in doing so, said that Pat Howard really didn’t know him. The confusion continued to abound.
Howard also alluded to a rift that exists between Clarke and Watson – hardly a healthy thing for the two leaders of our Test team.
Again, Watson went on record saying that at present there were no issues between the pair despite Howard stating that they needed to ‘sort their issues out and if Michael wants to raise that as a greater issue, then he can come forward’.
Watson has left himself wide open as a result of the comments he made upon leaving India and returning to be beside his wife who is shortly due to deliver their first child.
Just as Howard may like to rewind the clock, Watson may now be thinking likewise.
Clearly ticked off by his public execution by way of his one-Test suspension he made some comments prior to boarding the plane that would have resulted in some collective head shaking from the captain, coach, teammates, selectors and hierarchy of CA – not to mention the fans.
“There are a lot more important things in my life. I do love playing cricket and that passion is still there and I feel I am in the prime years of my cricket career,” he said.
“But, in the end, I have got to live with this. That is the decision they have made and at this point in time I am at a stage where I have to weigh up my future with what I want to do with my cricket in general to be honest.”
When approached by the media for his thoughts, Watson’s father said that his son, “doesn’t have to play for Australia to keep playing cricket and earning some pretty good money at the same time.”
All in all, Shane Watson over the past 48 hours has not come across as a man who desperately wants to remain in the Australian Test system.
The view in which he is now held by many of the punters has dramatically changed in a few days.
In the blink of an eye he has gone from being a player who perhaps should not be in the team to a man who has been greatly wronged and as such demanding of their support.
At present, Watson’s short term future appears bleak.
He will not, one would imagine, be available for selection for the final Test of the current series, as his three suspended cohorts will be, given the impending birth of his child.
The next assignment after that is the little matter of the Ashes – twice in fact given the twin home and away series.
It is a poorly held secret in cricket circles that Clarke and Watson do not see eye to eye and indeed their relationship has often been fractious.
Watson’s days as vice-captain are over. His form with the bat is nothing to write home about – two centuries in 40 Tests and an average of 36.
It is more of a problem given his self-imposed bowling ban.
The current crisis in Australian cricket has thrown up many more questions than answers. We do not know how Watson’s teammates have reacted to his comments about his future and the relevance cricket plays in his life.
Just how willing will they be to have him back, especially heading into two marquee series?
Further questions have been raised about the interpersonal skills of Clarke with the public airing of the Watson relationship coming on the heels of similar cases with Simon Katich, Andrew Symonds, Damien Martyn, and most lately, the rumours that surrounded Michael Hussey’s retirement.
And then of course, there is the case of Pat Howard.
On the field, the Australian team is under siege. Off it, it appears to be in little better shape.
And all of this on the eve of ten Ashes Tests.
Oh, to be an Englishman at present.
matt h
Guest
Well he was a WONDERFUL batting coach during the 2010/11 Ashes
matt h
Guest
That's fine in a club where the players available for selection are being trained and looked at week in week out by the coach. there is no way Micky Arthur has the time or the focus to adequately assess players not in the current national set up. so he will favour incumbents and those he knows. Human nature.
matt h
Guest
He spent the flight coming up with strategies for not tripping and injuring himself getting off the plane
matt h
Guest
Well actually Shewag has been dropped for producing a sub-standard power point presentation on why he failed his skinfold test
BetterRedThanDead
Guest
I think Sheek that it had been implicated that this course of action had been tried and failed, thus this decision was taken. Applaud both of them for taking the right and courageous call in pulling up these chaps for their poor teammanship and ill-discipline.
BetterRedThanDead
Guest
Yeah, the life of the sportsman today is tough, isnt it? We should go back to the day of durries in the changerooms, cartons downed on international flights and fat openers. Them were the days and hell, they could get us back to the top again, cause, like most things, sport never really changes, does it? Get a grip Lroy. This is professional sport, and if you look under the hood of the NRL, ARU, AFL or any top flite sport you will understand that the only one where being fat is a benefit is darts. Note the word 'professional' also. i.e. the team members don't have free-dress days, or surface from the hotel when they feel like it, or ignore coaching / captaincy direction. Pretty simple stuff.
Ads
Guest
Praveen, you have been confident since the tour started that Khawaja was going to be picked for the next game. He is now guaranteed to play no more than a single test on tour. I wouldn't hold my breath that he will be brought in for the 4th test. Hughes and Smith will only have to make anything more than a pair to get another game. That's what it took for Marsh to get dropped. There are clearly different standards for different people in this side. I'm sure people can debate whether that is true or not, but I think most would agree that there is certainly a perception that some players are brought in/kept in for performances that are below par whereas others get dropped after a single failure. Cowan now averages 32 after 15 tests (continuous tests), in comparison Khawaja 29 after 6 (hodge podge of one-off tests). Even Shaun Marsh (who had a disastrous run) averaged 27 after 7 tests. Not going to win many games because of a 3 run average difference. The scarey thing is that by most criteria Cowan has been playing to his maximum ability and is in "form" during that entire time. Having said that I wouldn't drop Cowan on an away tour. He should be taken out during a home series and a new bastmen brought in to play in familiar conditions. Players like Burns, Khawaja, Voges, Bailey, Henriques may not succeed but the potential upside has to be more than an average of 32 and the downside is only likely to be an average of 27-29. Watson should not be in the first XI for the away Ashes (that means 2 of Khawaja, Burns, Voges, Bailey, Henriques get brought in to the top 6). For the home series, unless Cowan has improved his average to at least the high 30's, low 40s and any of the unsuccessful new batsmen gets dropped and the next 2 cabs of the rank get the next 5 tests. That gives all the potential candidates a decent go and the selectors will get a good idea of who to persist with beyond that. (it may be that none are worth it! that's fine at least you know that, get rid of all of the batsmen currently on the edge of selection and move on to the next batch of batsmen)
the_critic
Guest
Media double-standards These days the players can barely speak freely in public yet the management can say whatever they like even when they are scarcely in a position to comment.... How about some consequences on this performance: ''I know Shane reasonably well - I think he acts in the best interests of the team - sometimes." Defamation - the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, religion, or nation a negative or inferior image. Is it appropriate and professional for an official of the ACB to publicly defame the character of the VC of the team ?
Jules
Roar Rookie
Nice one!
A Punter
Guest
No body is saying that the players are not accountable. But many are looking at the actions of the current administration and losing confidence in them... and for good reason I think. Australia has become the laughing stock of the cricketing world.
A Punter
Guest
Agreed. Very badly handled.
bozo
Guest
Punter, in case you have not been watching, these overpaid players have not been performing for their country. One suspects they perform for themselves though, and get the money they want elsewhere..
A Punter
Guest
It does seem that he has lost the respect of a large portion of the team. It would also seem that he has very poor judgement. There are other ways to discipline players without all the drama and humiliation.
Rellum
Roar Guru
I want him to have dealt with these issues before he needs to publicly humilate players to get them to listen, that why it can stay in house. I want the team to communicate to the highest standards, not give people some sort of vague get "back to me" by phone, text, email whatever because they can't be bothered to talk to and engage with the players. I want them to give the players real things to study, like DVD's of all the bowlers they will face in the up coming series so when the team sits down for a video session all the players can contribute and dissect both the opposition and the way they will be targeted and how to combat that. I want them to focus on skills first before of worrying about skin folds, as that is where cricket is played, not on the Gatorade training park. Do all the beep tests you like, if you don't endlessly practice your skills then you can't expect to execute them in the heat of battle on a difficult pitch against quality bowling. And based on the efforts so far they are not practicing their skills enough. I want a manager who has the respect of the players, who can bring the best out of them instead of seeing them fall behind where they were when they played state cricket. I expect them to be honest with us, if they think Usman is slack in his application ,then why pick him to go on the tour. If they had come out when the team was selected and been honest and said we didn't pick him because he is not applying himself in a professional manner then that would have been a whole lot less of a storm than the way they have gone about this episode. Once they did pick him then if he is not applying himself you drop him at the end of the tour and don't pick him for games. And tell people he is not getting picked because of his application. Suspending him from a team he hasn't played in yet for what will appear to be a petty reason on the surface just invites ridicule for the whole team. They could tell us if a player is injured or rotated, and fess up to rotations if that is what they are doing as well. All of the team management have lied during the season about why players have been picked. Not many people would be trusting any of the Teams staff on public statements anymore. I could rant some but I wont.
Richard
Guest
And we how much would we kill for a Boon like opener right now. Without his cigarettes and beer he probably wouldn't have been half as good.
A Punter
Guest
Felix, most people would agree with you and Monga. It's about performing for you country and the cricketing public. Not the big egos of a few administrators.
A Punter
Guest
How about the accountability of the overpaid "gurus" that are behind this whole mess? Can you explain why during Howard's period as "high performance" chief we have seen more injuries than any other team in the history of test cricket? If you don't believe me, I challenge you to come up with a bigger list of injuries.
Felix
Guest
Through the incessant dissection of semantics in this whole saga, I believe I have found my favourite quote courtesy of Sidharth Monga: "Australia have made it clear that failing to show intent, discipline and subordination in team meetings is a bigger sin than not scoring a run off spinners or under-bowling a fast bowler on fire and over-bowling him into dust when he is not or making poor selections or failing to reverse-swing the ball." Let the off field indescretions remain just that, and punish them accordingly. Let's not compromise the potential to win or draw a test match by throwing your toys (read players) out of the cot.
Rellum
Roar Guru
I don't think Boof could work with Clarke.
Cpt Ferret Face
Guest
Langer? As the brains of the organisation?? aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrggghhh Sorry, I fell over